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The state attorney general's office withdrew one of the charges in the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission bid-rigging case against former state Sen. Robert J. Mellow.

The withdrawn charge centered on an allegation that Mr. Mellow failed to report as a campaign contribution a dinner hosted Dec. 7, 2007, in his honor by PNC Capital Markets.

The charge is one of eight Mr. Mellow faced. The other seven remain intact. No trial date has been set.

Attorney Sal Cognetti Jr., Mr. Mellow's lead lawyer, declined to comment. Carolyn E. Myers, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office, said the office would not comment on why the charge was withdrawn because the case remains pending.

Mr. Mellow, 70, remains in a federal prison in Georgia on unrelated federal charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and to file a false tax return. He pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

During a June preliminary hearing for Mr. Mellow and five others charged in the turnpike case, testimony showed the circumstances of the New York City dinner weren't exactly as portrayed in the grand jury presentment that forms the basis for the case against Mr. Mellow and the others.

The dinner was at Sparks Steak House in New York City during the annual Pennsylvania Society weekend gathering and was attended by PNC Bank regional president Peter Danchak; Tony Lepore, the chief of staff to the Senate Democratic Caucus and Mr. Mellow's right-hand man; Mr. Mellow and others. The dinner cost PNC Capital Markets $7,082.34, according to the presentment.

"Both Lepore and PNC representatives recalled the event and that its purpose was to generate support for Mellow's contemplated run for governor," the presentment says.

That isn't how it was described by former PNC Capital Markets official Thomas K. Henson, who managed the company's public finance group. He testified the dinner would have happened with or without Mr. Mellow and wasn't even originally intended to honor him.

The bank wanted to honor others, but they had previous commitments so the bank asked Mr. Mellow, who agreed to be the honoree, Mr. Henson testified.

Mr. Henson said the dinner was not a fundraiser for Mr. Mellow or his planned campaign for governor.

Other testimony showed Mr. Mellow stayed at the dinner only briefly because of an illness.

Nothing in the court record explains exactly why the charge was withdrawn.

In July, Magisterial District Judge William C. Wenner ordered all eight charges against Mr. Mellow sent to Dauphin County Court for trial or other further action, but the charge was not listed when prosecutors filed a formal criminal information outlining the charges in county court.

When that happens, a charge is considered withdrawn, according to state rules of criminal procedure. The court docket lists it as withdrawn.

Mr. Mellow is still charged with committing a conflict of interest by accepting gifts from PNC Bank, including accepting trips to New York Yankees games and concert tickets. His defense team says in at least one case he did not attend a Yankees game because he was busy with budget talks in Harrisburg; that games he did attend were gifts from Mr. Danchak, a close friend, which is not a violation; and that he never attended concerts on PNC's tab.

- Prosecutors also withdrew a conspiracy to commit bid-rigging charge against Joseph Brimmeier, the former turnpike executive director who is among the other defendants.

- Deputy Attorney General Clarke Madden, who handled parts of the preliminary hearing for the prosecution, withdrew from the case. Exactly why is unclear because the attorney general's office declined to comment, but Mr. Madden's withdrawal could have something to do with the case being assigned to Dauphin County Judge Richard A. Lewis. Mr. Madden was a law clerk for Judge Lewis from May 2008 to January 2012, when he joined the attorney general's office, according to Mr. Madden's LinkedIn page.

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com

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